Post 11: Media Language - Lighting 1 (Shape & Texture)

Lighting can be very important when it comes to setting the mood and creating the right atmosphere for a film. So my group and I researched into what type of lighting we could use for our short film by learning about film noir.

Film Noir : "Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classical film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940's to the late 1950's. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression." 
Various examples of film noir and their range of genres include The Big Sleep, The Big Heat, The Set-Up, Night and the City, Gun Crazy and D.O.A. 

In film noir many effects were created through various lighting techniques because of film noir being in black and white it was rather important for everyone to look out for what shadows had been created and finding an interesting way to use them. The two main ways to describe shadows are; Cast Shadows and Attached Shadows.
Cast Shadows: Is when someone is only partly illuminated by light because an object is in front of the light source. E.g Blinds or a door casting shadows over a stalker.

Attached Shadows: Is when something or someone's features are partly illuminated because something natural is in the way. E.g Someone wearing a hat or having a large fringe creating shadow on someone's face.

Lighting is a very powerful tool when creating atmosphere in a film as it can keep certain aspects of a character hidden from the audience, or can reveal it to them. When we began researching into films in our genre we discovered Lolita which was a Film Noir, my group and I had previously commented on how the lighting used had helped set the atmosphere and revealed things about the characters. For example Humbert Humbert is always seen in shadows or in a darker light in comparison to Lolita who is always on display for the audience. Light is often signified with innocence and dark often signifying danger and mystery, therefore it is understandable why the lighting was taken into consideration when creating the characters.

Double Indemnity (1994) : The photo to the left shows a cast shadow of the blind going across a man standing up. This could suggest to the audience that he is more important to the film then the other character as the lighting is grabbing the audiences attention and making the character standing appear more interesting. The lighting in this photo helps with the characters body language to reveal something to the audience if not hint at something. The photo to the right is also a screen grab from Double Indemnity, only this time showing a woman standing over a balcony. The lighting suggests that she could be a femme fatale, as she is somewhat in the light of a gloomy mansion possibly trapped from a possible husband. The lighting shows her to blend in with her surroundings instead of making her stand out, this could show her to be trapped in her situation.

In the photo from Asphalt Jungle you are able to see how lighting shapes a shot's overall composition. The Light being cast from the hanging light creates attached shadows on the men's faces more so over the man wearing a hat. The light shows the protagonist making him the most frontal due to the illumination that is being  held over head. The shadow in the frame could reveal to the audience the secrecy and mystery of what is taking place, possibly an important meeting involving things illegal.

Below is the experiment my group and I conducted trying to recreate the effects of blinds going across Max's face like in Double Indemnity, I believe this effect made Max appear more mysterious and interesting especially combined with the rule of thirds. 

Lighting can also change our sense of shape and texture, with Josef Von Sternberg -thought to of been one of the cinema's masters of film lighting, said "The proper use of light can embellish and dramatize every object." An example of this theory is shown through the clip Lemon by Hollis Frampton, by moving the light in various ways and focusing on various angles of the lemon, you are able to create what appears to be an entirely new object for the audience. However my group and I decided to recreate this video using a skull instead which is below the lemon.